The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant won’t be warming the Connecticut River an extra degree this summer as it wanted to.
That’s because a Vermont Environmental Court judge has stayed a state permit that would have allowed plant owner Entergy Nuclear to release enough heated water to warm the water near the plant.
Entergy says not allowing the warmer water will prevent it the plant from making as much power as it otherwise could.
Environmental groups have maintained that the increased temperature could be bad for the river’s shad population and other aquatic life.
Judge Meredith Wright ruled that the environmental groups had enough of a chance to prevail during an upcoming trial that the water warming should be put off at least until the trial is over.